DOI: Digital Object Identifier; A name which provides a means of persistently identifying a digital object. This could be a data set - which could then be dynamically related to current data in a structured manner

E

Embargo: A period in which access to research data is not permissible for certain users. This is either to protect the revenue of the actual publisher or the interest of a research group or organisation

F

FOI: Freedom Of Information; FOI is the right of the general public to access information held by a country’s public authorities

ftp: A protocol or utility for transferring files over a network connection

G

GPU: Graphics cards contain GPUs, or Graphics Processing Units, for processing visual data. These processors have a different architecture from standard CPUs, and are also considered a more recent and highly effective technology used for carrying out parallel processing (with the potential to replace some of the more traditional supercomputers)

GSI: Grid security infrastructure

GUI: Graphical User Interface; a GUI is a visual medium for users to input commands, i.e. using the mouse and keyboard as opposed to a Command Line Interface, which uses typed commands

H

HPC: High Performance Computing; HPC is the term often used for large-scale computers